Q: You gave a wonderful lecture for OLLI this past week reporting on the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change. During that talk you described the Conference as one of the most disorganized meetings you have attended. What was the most frustrating thing you encountered? What was your particular part in the conference? 
 
A: I attended this COP meeting as a member of the Copenhagen Climate Council (http://www.copenhagenclimatecouncil.com/), a group of business and thought-leaders (the group also includes the environmental author Tim Flannery, the CEO of the world's largest wind energy company and one of the largest utilities in the U.S., and until his appointment, U. S. Energy Secretary Chu).  The Copenhagen Climate Council aimed to provide a form for the business community to discuss issues not only what might work in terms next steps to bring about significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.  This involves industry summits, informative white papers, and dialogs between government, non-governmental groups, and business leaders.
 
According to your web site (kammen.berkeley.edu) you received your undergraduate degree in physics from Cornell and masters and doctorate in physics from Harvard. Did you grow up in the East? Do you miss it, or do you now consider yourself now a Californian? You came to Berkeley in 1998. What was the carrot that lured you out here from your position at Princeton?
 
I grew up in Ithaca, New York, where Cornell is located.  It is great place with beautiful surroundings.  It is hard to beat the Bay Area, however, and both my daughters consider this home.  One was two when we move, the other was born here.
 
I came to Berkeley because of the legendary Energy and Resources Group, which had an opening for an energy scholar when John Holdren - now President Obama's Science Advisor - left for Harvard.  The faculty and the students in ERG are remarkable in their diversity of interests and skills, creativity, and dedication.  It has been a blast ever since I arrived.
 
What got you involved in the interdisciplinary approach to your work? You have done work at Cal Tech and at Harvard on renewable energy technologies and resource management.  Was there a particular person, class or experience that directed you to this broader perspective?
 
While a doctoral student at Harvard, and then at as a post-doctoral fellow at Caltech, interspersed with my physics work and travel in southeast Asia and Latin America, most specifically working in Nicaragua on clean energy.  I was fortunate to travel to Nicaragua with a Berkeley-based group, techNICA that sent technically trained volunteers to work for the Sandinista government on development issues.  I had a remarkable mentor, Bill Lankford, who had developed a particular solar oven design, and was testing and deploying them in a number of communities.  I got my start working with Bill.
 
At UC Berkeley you are a Professor in the Energy and Resources Group (ERG) , Professor of Public Policy in the Goldman School of Public Policy, and Professor of Nuclear Engineering. What classes at UC Berkeley will you teach this semester? Do you ever feel that you are spread too thin?
 
I teach a range of classes, all focused on energy.   The courses - in each of the different departments - are all focused around issues of 'Energy and Society', 'Solar energy', 'Energy and development', and 'Energy and climate.'  Students from each of the departments I am in - and many others - take the courses, and many decide to pursue research in the renewable energy area, too.  It is a lot of fun.
 
You are offering an on-line course through OLLI this winter term. It sounds fascinating (See the OLLI newsletter for January 2010). But an on-line course prohibits interaction with your audience. Do you find that satisfactory?
 
I am sure that we will find ways to interact.  Generally participants in the course check out my lab's website, http://rael.berkeley.edu, and we get into conversations about past or current research we are doing.
 
You mentioned in your lecture last Monday that most scientists agree on the conclusions based on evidence of climate change. Can you comment on those few who are in opposition? What part does politics play in interpretations of evidence?
 
The climate data is complex, and a range of perspectives do exist.  I really can't comment on each individual's perspective.  The climate community is not about a single data set, however, and the weight of evidence is very consistent with the worrying story of human-induced climate change.
 
One last question:  What do your kids think about you work?
 
I think they like it.  When I leave the water running while brushing my teeth, they are likely to say, 'Dad, you really should bring your work home.' They are right.

Political Awakenings:
Conversations with History
by Harry Kreisler